Aurora Wind
by Jewelieishness
Summary: [Complete][CarenxSubaruxNoel] Subaru makes a reappearance...he's Noel's new boyfriend! But why would he get together with Noel after he showed his obvious feelings for Caren in Antartica? And why's he in Japan in the first place?
1. I Met A Guy!

**Author's Notes: Yay for crackish love triangles and humor! Of course, angst is my best genre so we'll add pinches of that here and there. **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Mermaid Melody, LuciaxKaito would not be the main couple; I would either have HippoxYuuri or CarenxSubaru. **

**---**

**Aurora Wind - Chapter One**

**---**

"I wouldn't eat that if I were you, Coco."

The yellow pearl princess stopped staring, googly-eyed, at the slice of heaven. "Why, Caren?"

Caren clicked her tongue as if it were obvious. "Too much saturated fat in cheesecake."

"Ah, can't we indulge every once in a while?" Hanon jabbed the purple mermaid in the ribs, making her twitch.

"But, it's something more than sixty five percent daily value in one slice - "

"I'm back!" Noel called, entering the kitchen.

"Noel..." Rina cocked her head to the side. "You look happy."

"Too happy," Coco agreed. "What happened?"

A pink that would've made Lucia jealous, if the mermaid was present, laid itself over Noel's face. "I, um...I met a guy..."

"Is he good-looking?!" Caren demanded at once, wanting only the best for her 'nee-san.

Noel nodded, the pink deepening at least five shades.

"Ooooh, how old is he?" Hanon asked. The aquamarine princess was known to have a strange fetish for older men, and was no doubt wondering if the deep blue princess shared this...quirk.

"He didn't look that much older than us - but how would I know, he didn't tell me.."

"So are you two going out?" Coco was blunt and to-the-point. "Or did you just see him walking by and said hi and you're never going to see each other again?"

"He invited me to lunch on Saturday, and -"

"Has he betrayed you yet?" Rina's gray eyes were narrowed.

"No! No, how could he have betrayed me yet, we haven't even gone out and - "

Caren pressed on. "You said he was good-looking, and guys with pretty faces tend to be heart-breakers, 'nee-san."

"Nuh-uh, look at Hippo," Hanon argued. "He's _really_ pretty, but he's only loyal to Yuuri."

"Which is a shame, considering I wouldn't mind going out with him," she added as an afterthought.

"Nagisa won't be happy to hear that," Coco teased.

"Why you - don't you dare!"

Caren, Rina, and Noel left the room for the two to argue. Sub-conciously, Caren realized they'd never gotten a name...

---

"Rina?"

"Yes, Caren?"

"I...it's sort of this weird feeling, but, um, I think...do you want to spy on 'nee-san during her lunch on Saturday??" She finally blurted out.

Rina tilted her head. "Why would you want to do that, Caren?"

Caren looked away. "I just...she's my 'nee-san, you know, and I don't feel right leaving her to fend for herself...I mean, she might be a mermaid princess, but still, they only met today and she doesn't know much about him. There are perverts and stuff out there, and I just don't feel like this is something I should miss...plus, you're one of her best friends, and seeing as Coco's busy right now, you...Rina, you're the only one - "

Holding up a hand, the green mermaid princess grinned. "Of course. Don't worry, I'll help you."

"Thank you so much," Caren's cinnamon brown eyes shone with gratitude. "Now, all we have to do is wait until Saturday!"


	2. Thank Goodness For Souvenirs!

**Author's Notes: Yeah, I'll be updating everyday. Or every other day. Depends on how fast I can type this. I have three more chapters prewritten, then I'll have to start writing again... Beware the short chapter that's only needed for plot development. :K**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Mermaid Melody. Don't own the random souvenir shop. Don't own the brick wall, don't own the restaurant that I made up out of nowhere. Most likely there's one just like it somewhere. Nothing's original in this world anymore, hm?**

**---**

**Aurora Wind - Chapter Two**

**---**

"Move, I can't see a thing!" Rina hissed almost silently, trying in vain to adjust the sunglasses on her face.

Caren scoffed. "If I move, I won't be able to see!"

"Why don't we just get a table?"

"AAHH!" Caren and Rina screamed simultaneously at Seira's sudden arrival.

Caren immediately quieted down as Noel looked in their direction. The guy's back was still turned to them, but something about that straw-colored hair clicked in Caren's mind.

"Seira, what are you doing here?" Rina whispered.

The orange pearl princess shrugged. "I was following Lucia around, and she told me to go bug you."

"Good thing she did. We never would've thought of getting a table..." Caren murmured.

"We're getting a table? Wearing this?!" Rina asked incredulously, motioning to their full-body black wet suits.

Seira giggled. "Yeah, you two better change or something!"

"Um, change into what, exactly? We didn't bring any extra clothes..." Caren trailed off as she saw a souvenir shop. Souvenir shops sold t-shirts.

Rina also spotted the small store. "Seira, get two small - no, x-large t-shirts. I don't care what's on them at all."

"Roger that!" the younger girl chirped, taking a handful of yen from the purple haired princess and flouncing off.

Caren turned to Rina, a quizzical look on her face. "Why x-large?"

"So we can use them as dresses. It's not like you want to prance around a city in nothing but a t-shirt and your underwear, is it?"

---

"Are you sure they didn't have anything bigger than x-large?" Caren asked again warily, staring down. The t-shirt was styled appropriately, so it could pass for a dress, but Caren had very long legs; therefore, it covered what it needed to cover and nothing else.

"You're lucky it fits you at all," Rina whimpered. The poor green princess's legs were even longer; the baggy shirt stopped a little less than 2 decimeters below her belly button. Needless to say, it covered virtually nothing. Were they lucky they were hiding behind a wall or what?

"They sold shorts and skirts." Seira supplied, only further enraging the elder girls.

"Then buy some!" Rina stuffed more yen into the girl's hands.

---

"Finally," Caren sighed, completely clad in advertisements of Tokyo's many businesses.

"Hey, where did Noel go?" Rina's eyes widened at Seira's casual comment. Quickly, she and Caren fought each other to see what was on the other side of the brick wall. After several minutes of shoving, Caren fell out from behind the wall and saw that Noel and the mystery guy were...NOT THERE!

"Ohmigosh, they're not there!" Caren squealed in distress.

Rina pointed toward the park. "Look! They're going that way!"

The group of two oddly clothed teenagers and one little girl wearing a school uniform on a _Saturday_ caught many people's attention, but somehow, Noel and the guy she was going out with didn't notice the loud, running footsteps behind them and the whispers of the townsfolk.

Finally, Noel's new boyfriend turned, brow furrowed in confusion. And Rina and Caren stopped dead in their tracks, eyes wide.

And it turned out to be Caren who was able to say something first.

"S...S...Subaru?"

**---**

**Cliffhanger. -Points and laughs.- Haha, you have to wait until tomorrow, while I'm already on Chapter Six! -Ducks flying tomatoes.-**


	3. Hanon Versus Rina

**Author's Notes: Coco, Seira, and Noel did not meet Subaru in Antartica. In fact, they never even were at Antartica. They simply sang from where they were at and their voices somehow made it to Antartica. Seira, at the time, was not born. Her heart was still with Michel. Hopefully that clears up any and all questions...**

**The angst is here! -Happydances.- I somehow slipped into humor somewhere halfway through, though. Dammit. I can't write through one chapter without going through all sorts of genre changes...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MMPPPP. **

**---**

**Aurora Wind - Chapter Three**

**---**

"S...S...Subaru?"

"Um, if you don't mind, who the heck is Subaru?" Seira interjected.

Rina stared at the love triangle that had formed. "Um...right, haven't seen you in a while, Subaru. Hello. Seira, let's step aside for a minute, I'm going to explain everything..." _And get away from this unholy mess_, she added mentally. Seira obliged, flouncing over to a park bench a couple of meters away. Rina followed.

"Caren, you know Subaru?" Noel asked, slightly confused by this turn of events.

Subaru arched an eyebrow. "Caren, you know Noel?"

"Subaru...Noel is my 'nee-san!" Caren exclaimed.

The male's jaw visibly dropped as thoughts came back to him. _'She looks so much like Caren...Maybe I could go out with her for a while to get over Caren...That's not getting over someone, that's dating someone who looks like the person you like!...She's nice...like Caren...I need to stop thinking about Caren, she's not my girlfriend or anything; this...Noel is...'_ Either someone up there really didn't like him or...yeah. How did the one girl his thoughts had been saturated with since his departure from her in Antartica come back right after he just got together with her _sister_?!

While the researcher'd been mentally cursing at the Heavens, Caren had managed to explain to her older sister how Subaru had worked with her on protecting the iceberg without including the details about their mermaid forms or the sparks that had formed between them. She would never tell Noel about those sparks, not after the two just got together.

Suddenly, the magnitude of the situation hit her like a sack of bricks. However, a sack of bricks would physically hurt her, while this - this psychologically hurt. The guy she'd wanted to be with was _with her big sister_.

It was, in a way - disturbing.

"Wow, that's great!" Noel exclaimed, piercing the two angsting teenagers' thoughts. "You and Subaru are already friends. I really didn't expect that one! This day just keeps getting better, doesn't it, Subaru?"

"Um...yeah..."

---

"We can't just stand by and let Caren's heart get broken!" Hanon declared, plopping onto one of Lucia's frilly pink pillows.

"But we can't go and break Noel's heart either," Rina pointed out. She'd chosen to sit in the chair by Lucia's desk.

Lucia frowned. "Subaru's really created a situation for us now! Why would he go out with Noel in the first place? Back in Antartica, wasn't it obvious he liked Caren? And Caren still goes off into daydreams sometimes, too, so - "

"You're right, Lucia," Hanon slowly said, deciding it was best to approach this one step at a time. "Why would he go - why would anybody go out with someone other than their love interest?"

Rina snorted. "You're one to say, Hanon. Hippo, remember? And then you have Nagisa."

"I was just defending all the pretty non-heartbreakers," Hanon retorted, hugging a lacey magenta pillow to her chest.

Lucia looked between her two friends, completely confused, as she hadn't been at the hotel when this conversation went down. "Hanon went out with Hippo?"

"No, we had a conversation and I said I wouldn't mind going out with Hippo, because he's gorgeous."

Lucia nodded. "He's beautiful. Not as much as Kaito, but still..."

The green mermaid rolled her eyes. Not again with the guy talk.

"You know, Masahiro isn't bad either, if he and Rina ever break - "

"SOMEONE WANTS MY MASY-CHAN??!!"

---

"What happened to you?" Seira asked, astonished by the huge black eye that was forming on the older girl.

Hanon ignored the younger girl, stalking over to the kitchen to get an ice pack.

"For real..." she mumbled under her breath angrily. "I mean, she could've yelled at me all she wanted...no need to get physical..." She smashed a plastic baggie full of ice on her face, holding it in place and stomping up the stairs to her room.

---

"Now that we've, um, calmed down, let's continue scruntinizing the love triangle situation..." Lucia sweatdropped as Hanon shot another one-eyed nasty glare at Rina, who was looking away mock-innocently. "Please, Hanon! As I was saying, Caren and Noel are in a dilemma here, and I think the only one unknowing of the situation is Noel. Can we continue talking about this with no...interruptions, or changing of subject, this time, please?"

"Promise?" Rina asked, arching an eyebrow. "You two can go for hours about boys."

"Yeah, and about that," Hanon sneered, sticking her nose into Rina's face. "I will say whatever I want about your little 'Masy-chan', and you'd think that someone would be thankful their best friends approved of their lovers!"

"I _would_ be thankful if you didn't insinuate - no, wait, you didn't even _insinuate_, you _stated_ it _bluntly_, that you want to go out with _my_ boyfriend!" Rina argued, pushing Hanon's face to the side.

"There you go again, your little aggressive, physical self, I swear to Kami-sama - "

"You aren't even Christian you little - "

"These two have no hope at all," Lucia huffed, storming out of the room. Moments later, her ditzy brain finally registered that it was _her_ room and if those two wanted to argue, she had the right to kick them out of it. Storming dramatically back in, she hollered, "GET OUT!!"

Hanon glanced down at the fluffy pink pillow she was about to throw at Rina's head and also came to the conclusion that it was Lucia's room. Realization seemed to dawn on Rina's face as well. The two glared at each other angrily and left the expanse, mumbling indecent things under their breaths. Lucia frowned, brow furrowed in thought. Now that she couldn't turn to Hanon and Rina for help with this situation, who could she...

Kaito.

---

"So, how have you been since we, um, left each other in Antartica, Caren?"

Caren looked up from the fashion magazine she'd been reading and smiled a sort of half-smile, tossing the newsletter to the side carelessly. "I haven't been bad...I had Lucia, Hanon, Rina, 'nee-san, Coco and Sar- _Seira._" She covered up the slip easily. "We had lots of fun...'nee-san, Coco, and I played matchmaker with Hanon and Nagisa, sort of, and I helped Rina and Masahiro get together." The princess laughed a little, remembering how she'd developed a little crush on the green haired boy, only to have it disappear a few days later.

Subaru tilted his head, a little bit of that straw colored hair falling into his eyes. "Really? I haven't been as well off...I kind of missed you after I left..." His clear blue eyes softened slightly.

Caren's breath hitched in her throat and her eyes widened. _No, no, please don't say what I think you're going to say, you're already with my 'nee-san, I don't want to hurt her! _ Begging someone silently wasn't always effective, but this time, it pulled through.

"After all, we were pretty good friends, weren't we?" He laughed, and the female let out a gust of air that she hadn't known she'd been holding. Thank goodness.

"Yeah, we were." Caren smiled as the memory of saving him from the Black Beauty Sisters resurfaced. "Anyway, it's getting pretty late. I think I'm gonna - " She stretched and forced a yawn in order to not seem rude - "...go to bed."

Subaru inwardly cringed as suggestive images of Caren in - no! Dirty! Bad Subaru! You have a girlfriend! He scolded himself mentally and was only brought from his chastising by a chipper 'Good night!'

"Right, good night." He cleared his throat and left the living room for the shower. He'd probably jack off while he was in there too, mental images like that always stimulated him...

---

"Subaru?"

"Mmm..lemme sleep..." The soft snore that came from him only further encouraged Noel.

"Please! Get up! I see a roach!"

"Kill it yourself, Noel." Subaru bitched, throwing a pillow over his visible ear.

"No, I really don't want to touch it!"

"You don't have to touch it to kill it..." Subaru murmured, cracking one sapphire eye open. "Just hit it with a shoe or something."

Noel crossed her arms. "I don't want roach blood on the bottom of my shoes, it'll make me feel guilty."

"Doesn't telling me to kill it make you feel guilty?"

"Could you just kill it? Then I'll leave you alone and you can sleep." The deep blue mermaid princess begged.

"Fine, whatever..." He groggily rubbed his eyes and rolled out of bed with a thump. Then, he picked one of his slippers off the ground and threw it randomly, somehow hitting the little critter with shocking precision.

"What the - I thought you were sleepy, how did you hit it like..." Noel shook her head in disbelief. "Anyway, you fulfilled your end of the bargain, so...good night!" She ducked out of the boy's room, still amazed by the extreme shot. As she walked back to her own room, she forgot the fact that she'd been in Subaru's room to inform him that Seira'd gone missing...


	4. Evil Wolf of Doom

**Author's Notes: Hello, everybody! Where did I leave you...oh, right, Seira was missing. And the roach scene. That'll be important later...anyway, on with it, nobody's here to listen to me ramble about last chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Mermaid Melody isn't mine. But mark my words, one day I will license it and give you the most breathtaking, fluffy third season ever!**

---

**Aurora Wind - Chapter Four**

**---**

"Well, where is he?" Rina demanded, not even turning from the bushes she was trampling through with a flashlight.

Noel blanched. "Oh, I saw a bug in his room and completely forgot! I'm so sorry!" She spun quickly and dashed to go awaken Subaru again. Subconciously, she noted she'd be breaking that deal she'd made with her boyfriend...

---

Meanwhile, Hanon, Caren, and Coco had taken the seas. After all, Seira was also a mermaid.

"Where could Seira be?!" Coco cried, tossing aside some seaweed that'd been in her way.

Caren was in the middle of a group of large sea sponges, gazing around intently. Oh, there was - no, wait, just another sponge. "I don't know! And why would she just run away like that! Did we do anything to hurt her feelings?!" Her voice was desperate and slightly higher than usual; she was very depressed that the youngest mermaid princess had left them.

Hanon flicked her tail irritably as she dived out of a cavern. "Seira's not in there...what were you guys saying?"

"Nothing, just pointless rambling and questioning why she would worry us like this," Caren answered, glancing over the edge of a considerably large sponge.

Coco snapped her fingers, catching the attention of the other two girls. "Hey, you know that one place...?"

---

Lucia dashed along the beachside, Kaito in tow.

"Kaito, hurry up! Seira could be being gang-raped right now and we're not doing anything!" She wailed mellow-dramatically.

Kaito's expression was almost mirthful. "If she was being gang-raped, wouldn't your all-mighty magical pearl start glowing? Don't worry, Lucia, we'll find her! Sheesh!"

Her eyes starting watering. "You're right, Kaito, I'm sorry, I'm just worried - "

The prince hushed her and held one finger to her lips. "It's okay. Come on, we can't leave Seira out there to be gang-raped, can we?" His orange eyes glittered with amusement as she angrily chased him down the beach, yelling his name indignantly.

Oh, for moments like these...he'd let everyone on Earth be gang-raped.

---

Rina had asked Masahiro to stay a far amount of space away from her so that they wouldn't stray away from the situation like Kaito and Lucia were bound to. He'd definitely taken her advice; in fact, he was deep in the city, while she was searching along the boardwalk.

His eyes widened behind their glasses as he caught a flash of orange. Could it be?

Hamasaki Masahiro quietly crept behind an oak tree and peeked out. A female's back was to him; and her hairstyle and clothing matched Seira's exactly.

He left the tree and poked her slightly; "Seira?"

She turned and he blanched; she was definitely _not _Seira. "Who the heck are you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, one of my friends had gone missing and she has the same hair and ...yeah." Masahiro scratched the back of his head and blushed. How embarrassing...

She shook her head and frowned before leaving without another word.

"Darn it, Seira, where could you be?"

---

Nagisa had no idea where Hanon was. The only thing he knew was that she was searching for her younger friend, Seira. And he also knew that if _he_ found Seira, there was no limit to the amount of praise Hanon would give him. So here he was, all dirty and muddy and running through a forest in attempt to find a little girl he hardly paid any attention to.

"I don't even know what she looks like, hardly...I remember her awesome bangs and that her hair was orange, but nothing else," he growled, throwing a branch aside.

And here came the part Shirai Nagisa would never forget for the rest of his life.

He turned around at the sound of breathing, eyes wide, but then his eyes widened even more as he saw what was behind him.

"AAAHH!! WOLF!!!!"

---

Subaru was angry. Really, really angry. All he wanted to do was sleep, and his girlfriend was constantly waking him up.

"Subaru, please get up!"

"SHUT UP! I THOUGHT YOU SAID THAT YOU'D LEAVE ME ALONE IF I KILLED THE STUPID BUG! IF YOU SAW ANOTHER BUG, GO GET KAITO OR NAGISA OR MASAHIRO, DAMMIT ALL! I WANT TO SLEEP!!! **I WANT TO SLEEP!!!!!!!!!**" The poor guy nearly started crying. He was completely hysterical. Also, he had no control over what he said when he was only half-awake.

Noel was taken aback. "Subaru, it's not a bug, and I'm very sorry, but - "

"THEN WHAT THE HELL IS IT??!!"

"Would you please stop yelling?! Seira's missing!"

The scientist opened his mouth to retort, but then the words hit him. Seira was missing?! He launched himself out of bed and messily threw on a shirt and pants.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Now he was fully awake, apparently...

"I was trying to, but you insisted on yelling at me." Noel frowned, near tears.

Subaru brushed a finger over her face, drying Noel's eyes. "I'm really sorry, I have no control over what I say when I'm half-asleep."

Noel seemed to be comforted by these words and smiled. "That's okay. Come on, we have to save Seira!"

---

Rina pounded through the woods after hearing someone cry for help. Or really, they'd screamed, 'AAAAH!! WOLF!'. Rina didn't know how she would get the wolf to back off, but the poor girl needed help. This was assuming the person in trouble was a girl. The cry had been slightly high-pitched and effeminate.

Rina busted into the clearing, wielding a thick branch. "Back off, wolf!" The animal gave a howl before high-tailing it out of there.

Then she turned to see the person who'd screamed for help. What do you know, it was Hanon's boyfriend, curled up in a fetal position.

"Um...Nagisa?"

Said boy uncurled himself, staring at his saviour. "THANK YOU! OTHERWISE I WOULD HAVE BEEN EATEN BY THE EVIL WOLF OF DOOM! THANK YOU!!!" He nearly hugged the girl, before recognizing who it was. "...Rina?"

"Yeah. I heard someone screaming for help." She frowned. "Hanon called you in to help find Seira?"

Nagisa shifted. "Not really, but I decided to help anyway."

"If Hanon didn't tell you, how did you know...?" Rina tilted her head in suspicion.

"No, no, Kaito called to ask me if I'd seen Seira in the past few hours. I asked why, and he told me, then I ran out of my house to help look for her."

"Okay. You want me to help you out? I'm not going to run into the forest every five seconds because you saw a wolf."

"Thank goodness you asked, they're terrifying..." Nagisa followed Rina deeper into the forest.

"Oh, and Nagisa?"

"Yeah?"

Rina smirked. "You scream like a little girl."


	5. Riding on the Winds of the Aurora

**Author's Notes: Ho hum. I would've gotten this to you guys yesterday, but Document Manager was being stupid...anyway, last prewritten chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I'm only borrowing the characters for my own sick, twisted amusement. I don't really own Mermaid Melody.**

**---**

**Aurora Wind - Chapter Five**

**---**

"So, you can make wishes here and they'll come true?" Caren gazed around the cove in awe.

"Once a year," Coco confirmed.

Hanon frowned. "This is Seira's favorite place, you said? Then why isn't she here?!"

Coco shrugged, and Caren caught something orange moving under the water. "Hey!" The purple princess dove underneath and pulled up a sheepish orange pearl princess.

"Seira!" Hanon and Coco squealed simultaneously.

"What were you doing, going off somewhere without telling us?" Caren scolded, tweaking Seira's nose.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Caren, when Rina explained everything to me, I felt awful for you, so I decided to use my yearly wish to - " Seira stopped, blushing. Caren colored as well.

"Try and solve the problem?" Hanon guessed, pride glowing from her face.

The younger girl nodded, looking down towards her tail.

"What problem? What did Rina explain? I..." Coco was baffled.

Hanon sighed. "The easiest way I can put it is that Subaru and Caren were a bit more than just 'friends' in Antartica; they really liked each other. But then Subaru had to leave to go study elsewhere, and so Caren came back to Japan, too, and you know the rest. For some reason, he got together with Noel...but I think he might still like Caren!"

"What? But, why would he..." It dawned on Coco. "Noel and Caren _do_ look alike, don't they? And he got together with Noel before he knew...oh gosh, this is a mess! Caren, I - " The yellow princess stopped dead. "Where'd Caren go?"

"I think maybe she swam away when Hanon started her explanation." Seira murmured. "It'd be really painful to think about...the guy you like with your older sister."

---

"Alright, thanks, Hanon!" Lucia closed the cellphone, beaming at all the people around her. That consisted of Kaito, Noel, Subaru, Rina, Masahiro, and Nagisa. "Caren found Seira! They're bringing her back now!"

Cheers came up from the tired, dirty crowd. Subaru glanced half-heartedly at Noel. If they had Caren to find Seira, what was the use in waking him up? Well, now he was wide awake, so..."I think I'll go take a walk along the beach. Anyone care to join me?"

The others squinted at him, as if they were jealous of his energy.

"Um, okay then. I'll be back!" He began to walk towards the ocean, and halfway there, he heard a soft melody. It sounded a lot like Caren. He silently, but quickly made his way to the edge of the beach, where he spotted a purple mermaid. His breath hitched in his throat. Caren was a mermaid?

"_Will my wish riding on the wind of the aurora reach you? _

_I'm sure it'll make it there, because I definitely want to see you again. _

_Even if our two lives are beneath a star-crossed sky _

_Our hearts are one _

_and we both embrace the same wish to see each other._"

Aurora borealis...they'd watched one together once in Antartica. Two lives beneath a star-crossed sky? He was a human, she was apparently a mermaid...it suddenly clicked in his head. The song was a tribute to him!

"_I wonder why we both have _

_to follow our own different fates? _

_I've lost the broken map of "time" _

_and have only just begun my true voyage._"

Her eyes were closed, and Subaru thanked the Heavens for that. Otherwise, she would've seen him and stopped singing.

"_I've lost my way, and I've cried _

_(Let's Kiss! Right now!) _

_But let me just raise my voice higher so I can cheer up!_"

So she'd been just as sad as he was about their separation. He'd had his doubts, but no there was no doubt about it at all. It really was a tribute to him.

"_My faith is surely sleeping within the glittering sea. _

_When you can hear a love song playing on a purple wind _

_on the night of a full moon... I'm sure both of our hearts will sing together. _

_Even if it's a little emotional movement, _

_These.. will still be our special feelings!!_"

She opened her eyes and the song stopped as she saw him. Subaru was terrified. She'd seen him! But, in a way, he was happy; her eyes glittered like beautiful amethysts. They were the shiniest, most beautiful shade of purple he'd ever seen. He still loved her with her cinnamon eyes, but that purple was really something special...

The mermaid bit her lip and dived back into the ocean, eyes filled with tears, despite Subaru's pleas for her to wait.

Subaru ran into the sea, regardless of his attire. The jeans were weighing him down, but he continued to wade in, screaming her name. "CAREN! Where are you?!"

---

Caren let out a small wail. He'd heard it! Her song, the song that she'd made up just for him. It was like telling him that she loved him - and that was no good! He was with Noel!

"CAREN! Where are you?! Car-" the first syllable of her name was followed by the sounds of choking, and she suddenly stopped crying. Subaru'd always been slightly clumsy! She shot herself towards the noise and carefully held his unconscious body above water level. Then, she proceeded to shore. _Oh, Subaru, please don't be dead..._

---

**For those who don't know, Caren was singing Aurora no Kaze ni Notte...the English translation. Normally, I would give you the romaji lyrics, but the song's meaning is what matters here. Basically, she just declared her love for him...xD Angst.**


	6. Corrupted Butterfly

**Author's Notes: ...Today's chapter, considering I missed yesterday's.. Oh, and you'll all hate me because I make Subaru forget that he heard her song. It wasn't wiped, BTW, he's just forgetting it for the time being. I'll stick it in the back of his head and make a cute scene with him remembering...x3 I'm such a sap.**

**Disclaimer: I have come to tell you all that I have a dream. I have a dream, that one day, my four little children will live in a world where I own Mermaid Melody! -Is dragged away by the men in suits.- Noooees!!!!**

**---**

**Aurora Wind - Chapter Six**

**---**

Caren pressed a snow-white knuckle to his lips, becoming frantic as no breath was released from his nose.

Placing her right hand over her left, she dug her hands into his upper stomach and pushed up. He awoke quickly and spat water out.

"Thank goodness," Caren sighed.

Subaru stared at her in awe. "C...Caren...you just saved my life..."

She blushed darkly and looked away. "Think nothing of it...'nee-san wouldn't have been happy if you drowned..." _I wouldn't exactly like it either,_ Caren added mentally.

"A..and you're...you're a mer...mermaid..." Her pupils dilated at an amazing rate as she realized she was still in mermaid form. Holy shit!

"Oh my - " Caren cut herself off in her panic. "Subaru! I can explain, really! I couldn't tell you because if a mermaid tells a human they're a mermaid they'll turn into bubbles so the human has to find out by theirselves and I really really wanted to tell you but I couldn't and - "

"Hush." He held one finger to her mouth, and she searched his face for any sign of horror, disgust, or rejection. Amazingly, there was none. In fact, he looked almost...happy.

Her heart began to slow back to its normal pace, and she relaxed as she realized he still wanted to be friends with her.

"It's a miracle I caught all of that...so is it just you or are the others mermaids too?" His gaze was inquisitive.

Caren beamed. "Lucia, Hanon, Rina, 'nee-san, Coco, Seira, and I are all mermaid princesses. That's another reason why we really had to find Seira when she went missing."

Subaru nodded, slowly taking in this information. "So that's where you, Hanon, and Coco went to look? Underwater?"

"Yeah."

"Do Kaito, Nagisa, and Masahiro know too?"

"Well, Kaito knows. I don't think Nagisa or Masahiro know, though, so..." Caren tilted her head, knowing the sentence didn't need to be completed.

Subaru smiled, straightening himself up. "Of course, I won't tell them."

"Thank you."

---

"Caren, you're back?" Hanon smiled as the purple mermaid princess came in, closely followed by Subaru.

She began to fiddle with one of her curls, embarrassed. "Yeah...I'm sorry for leaving you guys as soon as Coco started to ask..."

Hanon noticed how she trailed off and nodded, understanding the situation perfectly. "That's okay, Caren."

"And I'm also sorry that I was irresponsible with my _abilities_ and now Subaru knows the _secret_," Caren added, tapping her seashell pendant inconspicuously. Nagisa was in the room, too, after all.

The aquamarine princess's jaw dropped. "Oh! He did promise to keep it secret, didn't he?!"

"Yes, I did," Subaru supplied. He _was_ in the room, after all, couldn't Hanon just ask him?

"What secret?" Nagisa asked loudly. Caren, Hanon, and Subaru blanched.

"Um...that is," Caren began, desperately trying to come up with something. Hanon interrupted her.

"Why don't we let Nagisa in on it as well?"

"What?!" Subaru exclaimed. Caren's eyes also widened.

Hanon winked slyly. "Nagisa, you must keep it secret!"

He nodded eagerly. "Of course, Hanon!"

"Caren knows kung-fu!"

Said girl nearly fell over, being caught easily by Subaru. "She needs to go to a mental clinic!" she murmured only loudly enough for Subaru to hear. He snickered slightly.

"Kung-fu? Abilities...oh, I get it now! Don't worry, Caren, I'll keep your secret!" Nagisa winked, easily being fooled by the lie.

Caren sighed dejectedly. "Thanks, Nagisa. Thanks." She shot Hanon a glare that was all 'WTF?' and left the room, Subaru shortly following her.

---

"I know." Subaru leaned against the doorway, acting cool.

Noel looked up from the sweater she'd been folding. "Know what?"

"You're a mermaid." He acted like it was an everyday thing.

She blanched. "What...how...you?!"

Subaru grinned. "I found Caren in mermaid form and she explained everything. Don't worry, I promised to keep it confidential."

Noel patted her chest, relieved. "Wow, you really scared me!"

"Aw, I didn't mean to, Noel-koi..." He hugged her, laughing a little as her navy blue locks tickled his nose.

---

Caren watched in slight contempt as Subaru and Noel giggled and chatted inside the room. They were too busy with each other to notice her.

_He likes to play dirty, doesn't he? _A little voice in her head spoke. _He'll be so nice to you and act like he loves you, then go flirt with your older sister. Did you hear what suffix he added to her name?!_

"It's not his fault, she's his girlfriend, after all. He wasn't acting like he loved me, either, I was just getting my hopes up," Caren muttered.

_Be in denial, sweetie, but when you're sitting there at the wedding, wishing you would've said something back in Antartica..._

"What do you want me to do?"

_Jealousy is a very nasty feeling, dear heart..._ Caren could almost feel the voice smirking. _Play his up a bit, maybe..._

"That's...I'm not a whore!" She whispered indignantly.

_Sacrifices need to be made, love. Otherwise, nobody would ever get what they want...and you want him, don't you?_

Caren bit her lip, guilt consuming her as she even thought of making him jealous. "Well...maybe, but-"

_Take everyone to the mall and pick up someone there. It's not that hard, and you're gorgeous, after all..._

"Oh, okay, I'll try it..."

---

Lanhua laughed out loud as she dropped the purple mermaid elder's most prized posession. She left the destroyed kingdom, grinning. Playing with the purple princess's mind was just too much fun...

---

**Bad butterfly lady! Or, really...good. Now I get to write a whole chapter with Subaru getting jealous! Yay!**


	7. The Green Eyed Monster

**Author's Notes: Suspicious!Noel, Jealous!Subaru, Whore!Caren. Oh yes, this chapter shall be the crackiest of all...**

**Disclaimer: Give me Mermaid Melody, or give me death. -Is stabbed.- xx**

**---**

**Aurora Wind - Chapter Seven**

**---**

"We don't spend enough group time, Lucia's always going out with Kaito, Hanon's busy with Nagisa, and there's almost constant banging in Rina's room when Masahiro's around," Caren whined, ignoring the furious blush that swept over the latter couple's faces. Then her face lit up. "So why don't we all go to the mall? We could pick up some stuff for the hotel, too...Pleeease, 'nee-san?" She blinked her large, overly-shiny puppy eyes at her older sister.

"...Okay," Noel smiled a little. "You're right, after all, we don't spend enough time together as a group anymore."

Lucia beamed. "I did find a really cute sweater last time I was there, but I didn't have enough cash on hand to buy it. We should go, right, Hanon? Rina?"

"Sure, I could use some new clothes," Hanon agreed.

Rina answered after a few seconds of silence. "Yeah."

"I'll go if Hanon's going!" Nagisa declared.

Subaru simply nodded from his position on the couch.

"Might as well go to make sure Lucia doesn't cheat on me..." Kaito tweaked her nose playfully. She giggled.

Masahiro's eyes softened slightly. "Of course, I'd follow Rina to the ends of the Earth..."

"I love the mall!" Seira exclaimed.

"Well, don't leave me home alone," Coco cried, quickly running a brush through her silky blonde locks.

"It's settled, then, we're all going!" Caren clapped her hands in glee and practically danced out the door, soon followed by the rest of the mermaid princesses and their beaus.

---

"Wow, that guy has a nice arse," the purple mermaid said in awe, staring at a raven-haired boy that'd just walked by.

"Caren!" Hippo scolded, in his human form. He had demanded that he go as well to make sure things like _this _didn't happen.

Caren flipped him the finger. "Well, he does!"

Subaru flushed slightly as he realized the flickering, furious feeling in his stomach was jealousy for the random guy Caren'd decided to comment on.

"Since when do you have such an opinion on guys?" Coco asked casually. "Isn't that Hanon's job?"

Hanon laughed and took another sip of the smoothie she'd bought. "Yeah, Caren!"

Caren raised one shoulder in a slight shrug. "I just feel sort of left out! Lucia has Kaito, Hanon has Nagisa, Rina has Masahiro, 'nee-san has Subaru, and I haven't had any fun in a while..."

Subaru's eye twitched. Noel noticed this, but decided not to say anything about it.

"Hey, if me and Seira can play it solo, so can you," Coco poked Caren in the side.

"Yes, but I miss the exhilaration of being in a relationship! The constant feeling of being on edge, always wondering if you're doing something wrong, the Heavenly touch of their lips on yours..." Caren paused. "..Or anywhere else." She smirked.

Hippo's jaw dropped at her audacity, and Subaru was ready to slam his fist on the table. Kaito, Nagisa, and Masahiro were obviously trying and failing to keep in their laughter. In fact, Nagisa fell off his chair and rolled around in the food court, silently shaking with a stupid smile on his face. Hanon went after him, not at all pleased with her boyfriend's demeanor.

Noel frowned slightly. Subaru seemed completely rigid. Was he just being protective of his friend, or was he...

No. Not possible. Don't even think like that, Noel, she chastised herself.

"C...Caren, that's..." Hippo stuttered, desperately attempting to come up with some clever way to yell at her.

"_Sexy,_" Caren almost-whispered, her gaze following a blond boy that looked about three years older than them. That did it. Kaito slammed his fist on the table and started to guffaw. Masahiro bit his lip, the corners of his mouth curling up in some resemblance of a smile.

Subaru cleared his throat. "I think I'll go buy myself a drink." He left the food court table that they were all gathered at.

"Something seems wrong with Subaru," Noel murmured descisively.

"What was that, Noel?" Rina asked, distantly stirring her smoothie around.

"Nothing!" she chirped happily. She sipped her own drink, making a mental oath then and there to figure out what was wrong and to help him.

---

_GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER! _Subaru mentally cursed at the handsome male that was hitting on Caren. From where he was at, he watched the mermaid giggle and trail a single finger down his chest sexily. _Dammit, screaming mentally never works, does it?_

Stiffly, he studied the boy. He was an inch or two taller than the purple-haired girl, with glittering brown eyes and messy dark brown hair. His left ear was pierced and he wore a tight black muscle shirt and a casual pair of jeans. He had to admit, he looked fairly better than Subaru himself, but there was a mysterious red glint in his eyes that made him untrusting of the guy.

Subaru considered running over there and beating the crap out of him, who'd by now lifted Caren's chin to his face, but remembered he was supposed to be buying a drink, and not spying on the two.

Then, he thought, _Screw the drink, _as their lips connected and her chocolate-colored eyes fluttered closed. He began to run over there, but being the clumsy Subaru that he was, slipped on a puddle of spilled water and landed flat on his arse. People started coming over to help him, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the two get closer and ignore the humans that were rushing by.

_This just might be the worst day of my life..._

---

"HOW DUMB CAN YOU GET??!! YOU JUST SUCKED FACE WITH A RANDOM GUY THAT ATTEMPTED TO GET INTO YOUR PANTS AND AGREED TO GO OUT WITH HIM TOMORROW!!" Hippo roared, straining to claw at Caren. The only reason he couldn't attack her was because Rina and Hanon were holding him back.

"Hippo's right, you know, he could rape you or something," Masahiro informed her solemnly.

Caren looked away, her mind distant. "It wouldn't be rape...I'd agree to it, after all."

"After one date? Just how many guys have you screwed?" Kaito demanded.

Brown met orange, and Caren said nothing. Kaito noticed a light in the corner of her eyes, and looked away, nodding slightly. The light signified she was a virgin.

Nagisa frowned. "Really, though, Caren, do you want us to come along or something, just in case?"

"No, I don't. Please, just mind your own business," she stated calmly, picking up her wildberry smoothie and taking a long drag out of the straw.

Hippo seemed to calm down slightly, and the aquamarine and green princesses let go of his limbs. "Caren, we're only butting into your life because we care."

Caren closed her eyes and smiled a little. "I thank you guys for caring, but really, I can take care of myself. Don't worry."

Rina shook her head knowingly. "Alright, then, Caren..."

---

Subaru sat in the bathtub, sulking. A sharp knock came from the other side of the door. "Subaru? Are you done yet?"

"No, Noel-koi...I wanna die," he whimpered, pulling his knees up to his chin. The lukewarm liquid sloshed around.

"It wasn't _that _bad, now, Subaru, was it? I mean, you only slipped, and you'll never see those people again..."

"It's not - " He stopped himself mid-sentence. "I mean, it was humiliating, nonetheless..."

Noel frowned from the other side of the door. Time to test her theory. "Subaru...why were you running anyway?"

His breath hitched in his throat. How was he going to explain this one?

"Um...I saw a Sale sign in one of my favorite stores."

Noel scoffed lightly. Yeah right. She'd seen why. "Of course, dear. I'll leave you alone so you can take your bath now." She smiled contently at the door and turned swiftly on her heel. _You like my little sister, hm? Let's see how this one plays out..._

---

**Noel is much more intelligent than she lets on. -Nod.- Next chapter spoilers: Masahiro's comment to Caren comes to life!**


	8. Trauma and Important Decisions

**Author's Notes: And now you wanna know why I haven't been updating. Because I can't write a near-rape scene! I've been trying all week to think up an alternative, then finally, this morning, in the shower, I got it! I'll cop out and NOT write it! Yeah! So here we go, chapter eight of Aurora Wind.**

**Disclaimer: "Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies." So...I envy Michiko Yokote-sensei, then I hate her, then...I own Mermaid Melody. Yep. xD**

**---**

**Aurora Wind - Chapter Eight**

**---**

"Miyasaki-san is in a coma," the nurse informed them solemnly.

"You mean he's not dead?" Kaito inquired, surprise visible on his face.

The woman shook her head. "No, he's not."

Subaru stood up. "Can we visit him?"

Nagisa snorted. "Subaru, why would you, of all people, want to _visit_ Miyasaki Tomoya?"

"He's not dead," the scientist answered plainly. "I'm going to change that."

Caren pulled his arm shyly. "Subaru...he might've attempted to...do what he wanted to do to me, but still, I don't want any of you to go to jail for murder. Especially not you..." she cleared her throat slightly. "Noel-nee-san wouldn't be happy at all."

The nurse squinted. "Do you mean Miyasaki-san attempted to _rape_ you, Miss?"

"Call me Caren," the mermaid sighed, horrible flashbacks floating through her mind. "He invited me out on a date, and I went. I didn't know these four were following me, though. And then, when Tomoya..." Caren trailed off. She still couldn't say the word after it nearly happened to her. "Subaru, Kaito, Nagisa and Masahiro jumped out and almost killed him. Then we called the police and an ambulance."

"Well, then, thank goodness for these four," the nurse nodded approvingly to the boys. "I do hope you press charges against him, Caren-san, rape isn't a thing to be taken lightly."

"Of course she will," Masahiro finally spoke up. "Right, Caren?"

She hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly. "Yeah, I think I will."

"That's good. I should go now, a woman is having a seizure and I'm needed..." the nurse winked. "If you ever need me, just ask for Nurse Riko. Goodbye, now!"

The five waved goodbye to their new friend, moods slightly happier.

"We should go now," Kaito sighed. "Lucia and the others will be worried. We've been out for hours now."

Nagisa nodded his agreement. "Yeah, Hanon will absolutely kill me..."

"You are _so _whipped," Kaito commented, getting up from his seat.

"Am not!"

"C'mon, guys, fight later, not in a waiting area in a hospital," Masahiro's tone was slightly reprimanding, but laughter danced in his eyes.

Caren flicked a purple curl behind her back and straightened her fluffy, sleeveless sweater. "Let's go. I don't want to be within five miles of Tomoya...and I don't want to worry 'nee-san anymore than she probably already is..."

Subaru began walking towards the door. "Ditto."

---

"You should've let Subaru kill him," Coco exclaimed, pounding her fist on the table.

Seira nodded, fury imprinted on her young face. "In fact, I'd like to kill him myself!"

Lucia bit back a feral growl. "I don't believe it...thank goodness for Kaito and company, otherwise - "

"Masahiro tells me you're pressing charges. That's very, very good." Rina interrupted. "He'd better be locked up for a long, long time..."

Hanon ground her perfectly manicured nails into the tablecloth. "I knew that foul man was no good...I wish I would've been there to take a swing at him! Bastard, attempting to sexually harrass a poor, innocent girl..."

Noel was holding onto her little sister for dear life. "Oh, Caren, I'm so sorry, this is a horrible thing that shouldn't happen to anybody, you must be absolutely traumatized..."

"I'm okay, really," Caren stared at the floor. "Can I go up to my room? I just want to be alone for a little while..."

"Of course!" Noel relinquished her grip on the princess. "Go on, Caren, we're sorry for keeping you, but please, if you need us, we're here for you..."

"I know, 'nee-san. Thanks." The look she gave her older sister proved she really meant it. "I'm just tired, and I need to sort out my feelings and everything..."

"No problem," Coco said encouragingly, squeezing her shoulder. "Good night, Caren."

"Good night," the other five princesses chorused.

Caren's eyes softened. "Good night, everyone. I'm so lucky to have you all." And with that, she left for her room.

---

_Until I tell her, this will happen again and again. So maybe..._

_Screw maybe. It has to be done._

---

**Now everyone's mad at me for the short chapter. x3 Don't worry, I'll be back to updating daily. Until then, R&R!**


	9. Dream in Reality

**Author's Notes: -Hums.- Short chapter, but very important and should please you. ;) I just feel very bad for Noel over here...**

**Disclaimer: I cannot tell a lie. I don't own Mermaid Melody.**

**...Y'know, I'm running out of famous quotes to use as disclaimers, so if you know one I haven't used...thanks!**

**---**

**Aurora Wind - Chapter Nine**

**---**

"Caren! Good morning!" Subaru had a faint tinge to his high cheekbones.

Caren rubbed her eyes sleepily. "G'mornin'," she slurred.

Subaru scratched the back of his head. "Um, Caren, can I speak to you in private?"

Noel raised an eyebrow, but said nothing and continued to pretend to read the magazine.

"Sure, whatever..." Caren yawned slightly. "Lessgo."

---

"Caren, there's something I have to tell you," he began, a light roseate beginning to flourish on his face. He glanced around the hallway, trying to stop himself from blushing.

The girl nodded slightly, her head lolling forward. Subaru cleared his throat. She wasn't supposed to be sleepy during this! Tentatively, he reached out and poked her just below her shoulder blade. Caren collasped on the floor and began to snore lightly.

"I cannot work under these conditions!" Subaru declared, using a line he used too often as a scientist. He crossed his arms and watched her sleep, slightly annoyed. "Caren, please wake up!" He kneeled down and began to poke at her.

"Mmm...don't touch me...asswipe..." she mumbled in her sleep, face tensing. Subaru hesitated in his prodding. _Well, thank you for giving her nightmares, you dumb fuck! _Mentally, he vowed to finish off Tomoya as soon as he was released from the hospital.

"Subaru...Kaito...Nagisa...Masahiro...thank you," Caren murmured, shifting her position.

Subaru tilted his head, watching her. He felt guilty about waking her up at this point in her dreamland, but...

"Caren, everybody jumped off a bridge and the house is on fire so we're gonna burn and it's raining really hard out and we're gonna drown - " Subaru paused. Well, he just contradicted himself. And the girls were mermaids anyway, so jumping off a bridge wouldn't do any good. Regardless, the purple pearl princess woke up.

"What the..." Caren stood up, stumbling a little in her drowsiness. Subaru followed.

"Caren, I was going to tell you something, but you fell asleep on me!"

"Oh. Really? Sorry, so sorry, I couldn't go to sleep last night and I don't remember why - " It came flooding back to her and she grimaced. That was certainly an unpleasant thing to think about first thing in the morning.

Subaru nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. He shivered slightly as their skin made contact, sending icy-hot waves of pleasure coursing through his system. "That's okay...can I tell you what I wanted to tell you now?"

"Sure, what?" Her words were earnest, and he smiled a little before withdrawing his arm.

"Caren, I..." Wow, it was a lot harder to say it than to think it. "...that is...I want to tell you..." At this point, he'd begun to blush furiously. Why did he have to sound so _stupid_? "I, um...I love you, okay?"

Her large, chocolate-colored eyes widened in shock. Holy shit...was she dreaming? This must be a dream. Just another silly dream. She was still sleeping. Yep, nobody'd awakened her yet. Hell, she was ready to wake herself up now! What kind of dream was this?!

"I've loved you ever since we met in Antartica, and..." Suddenly, he remembered her song. She liked him back! He just had to wait for her to confirm it now! Still blushing, he stared at her. Unfortunately, what came from her mouth was not what he wanted to hear.

"Dr...Dream, this is a dream, it's a dream, I need to wake up...yes, wake up, wake is good...yes..." Caren chanted, fists clenched by her sides. This was one funny dream. It was very realistic; she could sort of hear Dream-Lucia and Dream-Coco chatting in the living room with Dream-Noel, and smells wafted around her nose from the kitchen, where presumably, Dream-Nikora was cooking. Dream-Masahiro's motorbike was roaring outside, and Dream-Rina came in, giggling like a schoolgirl. Dream-Hanon wasn't doing anything audible. Yes, it was a very realistic dream. If she didn't know that Dream-Subaru was in front of her, professing his undying love, she would say she was actually awake!

Subaru's face was crestfallen. She believed it was a dream? "Caren, this isn't a dream, I really, really, like you, and I only dated Noel because she looked like you - "

"Wow, this is one realistic dream. Do you know, Dream-Subaru, that I can actually smell and feel and touch and...wow. Very cool dream." she nodded warily.

"Caren, snap out of it! This is not a dream! I love you!" As if to punctuate it, he grabbed her and pressed his lips to hers, clenching his eyes shut. He slid her mouth open gently with his tongue and pulled her even closer, drawing his wet appendage along her teeth and flicking it over her own. _She tastes like raspberries and cinnamon..._ He'd dreamt of this moment so many times, but it didn't compare to kissing her in real life. Her flavor was intoxicating.

Caren, meanwhile, was stunned, eyes wide. She simply took it from him, noting that he tasted sort of like coffee and chocolate blended together. As he continued to work his mouth over hers, she realized one thing.

_This isn't a dream..._

---

**Denial is so much fun to write! Anyway, please R&R! Especially if you have any famous quotes for me. I don't know what I'm going to do...**


	10. The Final Chorus

**Author's Notes: Tch. Time flies quickly...Aurora Wind is ending. Now. Today. This is it. Last chapter. Yep. **

**-Bursts into tears.- I love this story. -Waves goodbye sadly.-**

**Disclaimer: I OWN MERMAID MELODY! **

**Mark Twain: "Denial ain't just a river in Egypt."**

**---**

**Aurora Wind - Chapter Ten**

**---**

Subaru pulled away reluctantly. "Do you see, Caren? I really, truly love you from the bottom of my heart."

Caren trembled slightly and she raised her right hand to her lips. _He just kissed me..._

Finally, she spoke. "Subaru, you must already know how I feel about this. Noel-'nee-san loves you, and I cannot - "

"Noel is a very understanding person," Subaru argued. "She'll understand!"

"You don't get it!" Caren cried, clawing at her wine-coloured locks. "You're asking me to break 'nee-san's heart, and I can't do that!"

"We're not going to break her heart! Caren, Noel will understand!" Subaru took her hands gently. "Caren..."

Her cinnamon eyes softened. "Subaru...I don't want to hurt 'nee-san, but - "

"Like I said, we won't hurt her. We'll ask Lucia, Hanon, and Rina to help us. They know all of this and they'll help us sort it out, okay?" His words were soothing, and she relaxed slightly.

"Oh...Okay," the princess sighed, giving in. Hopefully this would all turn out alright.

Around the corner of the hallway, somebody concealed in the shadows smirked and fled, showing a glimpse of their golden blonde hair.

---

"_My pain... is our suffering. _

_My smile... is our joy. _

_The things we share and the things we surpass by ourselves _

_binds with our bonds to the seven seas that we believe in!_"

Caren continued to wind up the stolen bubble maker, wondering why she'd just sung that short refrain from _KIZUNA_. It wasn't like her to sing in the bathtub, but that line had been on impulse...

Oh well. She stole - _borrowed with the intent to return - _Lucia's sponge and began to scrub at her tail fins.

Oh yes, Caren's, Noel's, Coco's and Rina's baths at Pearl Piari were usually filled with ransacking. Of course, Lucia and Hanon knew - how wouldn't you know after you found purple, deep blue, yellow, and green scales in your otherwise pink or aquamarine sponge? But they couldn't do anything because then Nikora would go on a rant about the price of sponges and how sharing wasn't a problem at all. However, nobody ever touched Seira's orange sponge except for the youngest princess herself. There had been some sort of talk about how she hadn't reached puberty yet and other stuff that Caren hadn't really listened to. Nonetheless, she didn't ever use it.

Caren swore under her breath as a lavender scale peeled off. Thankfully, there were still many more scales in that spot, and therefore it didn't leave any kind of raw patch.

She carefully placed the sponge back in its rightful place and pulled Hanon's blueberry shampoo off the shelf. She hummed the chorus of _Ever Blue _as she applied it, the familar scent making her think of her aquamarine friend.

Hanon...she'd been there at Antartica. Caren silently hoped that Hanon would help with the situation. Lucia and Rina, too.

With a splash, she drew her head underwater and took in a deep breath of ocean water. Once she was used to the different method of breathing, she started to clean the lather out of her curls.

She coughed a little and squinted her eyes shut as the foam corrupted the water. Once she was sure it was out, she raised her head above water level again, stuffing the oxygen down her lungs.

The purple princess pulled a bottle of strawberry-scented conditioner and spread the smooth liquid through her hair, wondering what Lucia was doing at the moment. She heard a shrill shriek coming from the pink princess's bedroom and giggled. Of course, what else did she do in there when Kaito was around?

This time, she only pushed her head in enough so that her hair was covered, but her face wasn't submerged. She ran her fingers through the silky strands, cleansing out the conditioner. Once she was done, she drained the bathtub, rinsed herself one more time, and dragged her body out. In a flash of purple light, she turned back into her human form.

"Hmmm...I wonder what 'nee-san will say about this..."

---

"And that's basically it," Subaru concluded, falling into a fluffy pink chair.

The three girls sitting on the bed seemed shocked.

"Did you even think about Noel's feelings before you did something like this?" Rina demanded.

"That's what Caren said too. I really do owe my apologies to her, but this is - "

Hanon interrupted. "Subaru-san, we'll help you! Lucia and I have actually been waiting for something like this to happen!"

The pink princess nodded. "Yeah! After what happened in Antartica, we just knew you and Caren were made for each other! And poor Caren...I know how I would feel if Kaito got together with Nikora-'nee-chan!"

Rina fell off the bed.

---

"Noel...we need to talk," Coco declared, a sad glint in her eyes.

The deep blue princess sat down elegantly and nodded. "Of course, Coco, you always need to talk," she teased. "Now, then, what's the matter?"

"Noel, before we talk, I need to tell you a story..."

"Oh...okay." Noel settled herself in her chair and motioned for Coco to continue.

"Hm...okay. So there was once this girl. She met a guy and they fell in love. But, they didn't know the other also had feelings for them and so the love remained unrequited." The older princess paused to think. "Then the guy had to leave...so the girl went somewhere else as well."

Noel frowned. This was certainly a sad story...

"It turned out that they were going to the same place! But they didn't see each other until it was much too late...the guy had gotten together with the girl's _twin sister_," Coco emphasized the last two words, and Noel blanched. Was Coco telling her how Subaru and Caren met in Antartica? Then...that meant she'd been antagonizing the...oh dear.

Noel put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my gosh...I'm horrible. I'm absolutely horrible, I - "

"Noel, you're not horrible, you didn't know," Coco attempted to comfort the distraught mermaid, but it didn't work.

"It's all my fault! No wonder Subaru seemed so unhappy when he found out we were twins! How could I have not seen it?! The mall trip, and Caren...she must feel so bad! I've completely ruined it all! They must hate me! And I was so stupid not to realize - " The poor girl was hysterical.

"Noel! It's okay!" Coco grabbed the princess by her shoulders. "It's not your fault! It's not! It's not your fault, or Caren's fault, or Subaru's fault!! Don't blame yourself, you didn't know. Noel..."

Noel fell into Coco's arms, sobbing. After a while, the tears stopped flowing out of her eyes. "Coco...can you help me tell everyone I'm sorry? And then I'll just...break up with..." Noel choked slightly. Even though she now knew the situation, she was still fond of him. But Noel had a habit of putting others in front of herself... "I'll just break up with him so he and Caren can live happily ever after." She finished.

"Don't worry, Noel, I'll help you. Remember, it's not your fault," Coco patted her lightly on the back. "Don't you dare think it is, either."

"Thank you, Coco. Thank you."

---

"Lucia, Hanon, Rina, Caren, we need to talk - "

"Noel, we need to talk - "

Noel paused. "Can I go first?" she asked shyly. Behind her, Coco beamed.

The four princesses looked at each other and shrugged. "Go ahead, 'nee-san," Caren said.

"Caren, I'm sorry I split you and Subaru up."

The purple princess's jaw dropped. Noel knew?

"I didn't know until today, and I'm really sorry...I can understand if you never want to speak to me again, but - "

"'Nee-san, I forgive you! Like you said, you didn't know, so it's not your fault. How did you find out anyway?"

"Coco told me..." Noel trailed off, slightly confused. Coco hadn't been at Antartica either, or at least that was what she'd been told.

Hanon bit her lip to keep from smiling. "I told Coco while we were searching for Seira...by the way, we never heard what Seira wished for!"

The orange princess popped up out of seemingly nowhere. "My wish came true! Noel found out, and Caren can be happy with Subaru." She blushed as the older girls beamed with pride at her.

"Well, now we just have to tell Subaru and this can all be cleared up!" Lucia said cheerfully.

Rina nodded appreciatively. "Yes, we'll be all back to normal..."

---

Noel watched, eyes slightly misty, as Caren and Subaru cuddled up on the sofa. They really were cute together.

"Are you okay?" Noel turned, already knowing who it was. Nobody else she knew had such a low, yet still feminine voice.

"Yeah, Rina. I'm fine. I'll get over it quickly, just watch." She winked, and the green princess smiled approvingly.

"Just checking. Hey, Coco and I are going out for a swim. You wanna come?"

"Sure!"

---

"Caren...you remember that night when I found you as a mermaid?"

"Yes...why?"

"Finish that song for me."

Caren blushed and freed herself slightly from his grip.

"_My dream now is still but a dream _

_(Let me stay together with you now) _

_but I'll believe in our place._"

She cleared her throat and started on the chorus.

"_Will my wish riding on the wind of the aurora reach you? _

_I'm sure it'll make it there, because I definitely want to see you again. _

_Even if our two lives are beneath a star-crossed sky _

_Our hearts are one _

_and we both embrace the same wish to see each other._"

Subaru smiled and closed his eyes, contently listening to her voice.

"_Will my wish riding on the wind of the aurora reach you? _

_I'm sure one day, being apart like this, we might say "Thank Goodness". _

_So we both can become real adults, we've put our two lives on different voyages._"

Caren noticed that he'd fallen asleep and giggled, whispering the last line softly into his ear.

"_But always remember to keep everything & everyone you run across, precious to you_!"

And with that, she dropped into his arms, quickly falling into slumberland.

---

**That was satisfying. Such a cute, beautiful ending... R&R, please?**


End file.
